VIDEO: "Women must write the story they want to hear", Eva Longoria tells Web Summit

Actress Eva Longoria has encouraged women to "write the story they want to hear".

The businesswoman and philanthropist took to the stage of the Web Summit in Dublin to discuss a range of topics, including the importance of women in business, her work with the Latina community and her business endeavours.

This is her first visit to Ireland and she says she has been looking forward to coming to Dublin to speak about her philanthropy and how it ties in with technology.

Speaking to Jemima Khan, European editor of Vanity Fair, Eva discussed her work with the Eva Longoria Foundation.

“I have never been to Ireland and they invited me to come and speak about my philanthrophy and how it ties to technology.”

“We live in a global community,” she said.

“And once you accept that, you can adopt different models of different countries that are doing the same thing, so you’re not reinventing the wheel every time.

“A great way to share ideas and to share those models is through technology.”

Something close to her heart is inspiring women to pursue their dreams despite being limited by their ethnicity and background.

During her research for her Masters thesis she found that “Latina women in STEM (Science, technology, engineering and maths) fields are continually, even today, discouraged from going into these fields.

“I think that’s something we have to change in our educational systems.

“It’s very hard to navigate the educational system in general, and even more when you’re a woman interested in these fields and discouraged by it.”

When asked about her experiences of sexism, ageism and racism, she said that actresses over 40 are often hindered by ageism and sexism when it comes to acting roles.

“I’m still young so I haven’t hit the ageism yet, but it exists,” she said.

She believes that Desperate Housewives was a breath of fresh air for older actresses.

“It was one of the first shows where most of the leads were over 40.

“Women over 40 had very limited roles available to them.

She thinks that the under-representation of women in film and television is due in part to them not being behind the camera.

“They’re not writers, there are not enough directors, not enough producers that are female.

“I say create the story you want to see. Write the story you want to hear.”

Eva indicated that the majority of limitations that are put on women are in fact from other women.

“Women are hardest on women” she said “Women make these judgements, not men.

“I think there is a conversation to be had on the world stage on gender roles and women’s identity.

“But women are very complex and they greatest advantage we have is we’re always underestimated.”

Eva, who is currently taking part in writing and producing roles, hopes to return to our TV screens sometime next year with a new show.